The two of them just looked at each other.
Shang only had a neutral expression, while Abaddon, King Sanctified Death, had a friendly smile.
"Your soul is on the verge of collapse," Abaddon said with a smile.
Shang didn't answer.
"You only have about 50% of your soul left. You know, about 90% of Mage Lords die when I remove just 40% of their soul, and the record holder managed to survive with 55% of their soul remaining."
"But you are still alive with just 50%, and you can even fight. That's very impressive," she said with her friendly smile.
"How can your mind enter the barrier?" Shang asked, completely ignoring Abaddon's comment.
Abaddon just chuckled a bit. "Trade secret. If I were to tell you, I would need to kill you," she joked.
"You're going to try to kill me regardless," Shang answered evenly.
"No, why would I?" she said with surprise. "I'm here to talk to you, not to kill you."
"I told everyone else that I am going to kill you, but I actually just want to talk to you. Later, I will just detonate this body and act like you won. Nobody knows how my Spell works anyway."
Shang didn't show any reactions. "You're here to talk to me," he repeated with a deadpan voice.
"Just talk."
The purple-haired girl nodded several times. "Yep!"
"And what do you have to talk about?" Shang asked.
"I think we can work together," she said.
"Explain."
"We are both the enemies of the world," she said matter-of-factly. "All the Mage Emperors act like the world is infallible and that I will just be some kind of trial they have to overcome, but when they actually stand at the edge, they will realize that their convictions weren't as strong as they believed."
"I originally wanted to kill Adam and become a Mage Emperor, but then he got killed, and now his Mana isn't accessible to me anymore," she said.
Shang realized that Abaddon didn't even refer to his father as father. It was almost like they were strangers.
"I can kill a couple more Emperors, but I won't win in an instant, and several other Emperors will appear. If the Lightning Emperor hadn't attacked, I would already be a Mage Emperor."
"At that point, I would need to fight everyone except for mother, but as an Initial Mage Emperor, I might not win. Additionally, if the Archivist gets out, I will also die."
"They believe we are allied, but we are actually already fighting a war."
"Right now, all their focus is on you. You are their current enemy, and I am their future enemy."
"The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Ever heard of that idiom?" Abaddon asked.
Shang didn't answer.
"That's why I'm here to talk," she said.
"And what's your suggestion?" Shang asked.
"The Empires want to stop you from reaching the Eighth Realm. In the grand tournament, they will put new rules in effect based on the old Mage Emperor's last words."
"He said that no other Path is allowed to reach the Ninth Realm again, and they will expand it to the Eighth Realm as well. Only Mages are allowed to partake in the tournament."
"You can't use weapons. You can't use your body."
"And when you join, they will send several Mage Lords with fivefold Spirit Senses at you that have been taught to perfectly counter you."
"I've seen their preparations, and I can tell you that you won't be able to win in these fights. You are not a Mage. I know that because I also wouldn't be able to win if I were in your position."
Shang was extremely powerful, but he only had a single level five Concept.
His opponents would all know a level six Concept and four or more level five Concepts.
Additionally, they had a lifetime of fighting as Mages and an incredible number of Spells.
Shang knew that he wouldn't be able to fight them, and if he dared to use his body or sword, they would immediately disqualify him.
On top of that, they might even make some sort of rule that would allow them to execute anyone that got disqualified. There were a lot of things that they could do to mess with Shang during the tournament.
"And your solution?" Shang asked.
"I will use my influence to give you a loophole," Abaddon said with a smile. "I will make it so that domains are allowed, and by the way it is defined, you will be able to use several of your techniques. That should be enough."
"Just the ability to use your Abomination Domain should help you win."
Silence.
The atmosphere rapidly changed and became cold.
The purple-haired girl just blinked a couple of times with her friendly smile.
Shang didn't show any outward reaction as he just hovered in front of her.
He didn't say anything.
"It's not difficult to tell," she said with a laugh. "I can feel all kinds of Mana, but I still can't tell what 90% of your body is made of. That's the same when I look at an Abomination."
"You probably sacrificed parts of your soul to survive dangerous situations in the past, kind of like a partial explosion of an Abomination. That explains why you are still alive and why you are missing so much of your body."
Shang didn't answer.
"I don't mind," Abaddon said with a casual laugh. "You probably already guessed my goal. Why would I care if people die? I am going to kill them all anyway."
"I am the enemy of the world."
"You are the enemy of the world."
"I will become a God."
"You will become a God."
"Let's just work together," she said with a smile.
"There's not enough Mana for two Gods," Shang said.
The girl's smile turned into a smirk.
"Wrong," she said.
"I can assure you that we can both become Gods," she said as her smirk widened.
Shang's mind focused on Abaddon even more, but he remained silent.
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